Lucy Brydon shed an astonishing amount of weight in just 14 months, now - as she takes over running the gym which helped her on the way - she wants to inspire others.
Back in 2018, 5ft 1in lass Lucy, 26, weighed 18 stone and 8 pounds. and felt awful about herself. Struggling with fad diets, she was desperate to feel better about herself and improve her fitness drastically. After educating herself about fitness and diet, she took a back-to-basics approach - now she's about to take over in charge at Ocean-Fit gym in her hometown of Whitley Bay.
"It was just awful. I was getting bigger and bigger. Things were getting worse and worse, and the more reclusive I got, the worse I got," she told ChronicleLive. "After many attempts and failures at losing weight through slimming clubs, fad diets, juices, shakes, I was the biggest and unhappiest I had ever been.
"The mental and physical impacts of being so overweight were really beginning to take their toll, walking was becoming difficult and I became reclusive as I felt so uncomfortable and self conscious."
But learning about healthy diet and how to lose weight safely and sustainably propelled her in the right direction. By January 2019, less than a year later, she had lost seven stone. "I just tried to educate myself about what actually works to lose weight," Lucy said. "It's all the basic things about keeping an eye on your calories intake and making sure you're in a deficit if you want to lose weight. It's also about doing that sustainably. It must have been my 20th time trying to lose weight.
"All those fads were just dressed-up calorie deficit programmes. But by January 2019, I had lost 7 stone and was desperate to get fit so I looked for local gyms." She found Ocean-Fit - which was founded in 2016 by Aaron Phillips.
Lucy said the gym's ethos had appealed to her. "I was so scared as I’d never been in a gym before," she added. "But I absolutely loved my first session, so much so that I never left. The sessions are fun and the clients so friendly and welcoming. By May of that year I had lost almost 10 stone and had built a good level of fitness, I was a happier and fitter version of me, something I never thought I could be!"
After being a client at the gym, Lucy continued to take her fitness seriously - even taking up weightlifting. And during the ovid-19 lockdowns she took courses to become a personal trainer - and after that she was offered a job at Ocean-Fit. Now, with Aaron heading for new ventures in Australia, she is taking over.
"I want to try and help people to do the same as I did," she said. Ocean-Fit was the very first place I went as a client. It's really exciting - I can't quite believe it. It's a real pinch-me moment.
"I have clients who want to gain weight and clients who want to lose it. For me it's about keeping going and helping more people. Ocean-Fit has been a really successful gym and it's about keeping that going. Because I've been there as a client and come full-circle I can be empathetic and people can look to me and see what's possible."
Lucy takes over officially on September 1, and said she felt privileged that Aaron was trusting her with the studio. Ocean-Fit runs beach camps, indoor fitness camps and group personal training along with 1-2-1 sessions.
Lucy added; "I would love for someone who was struggling with their weight and felt completely hopeless to know that they aren’t stuck! It is possible to transform your life, I’m proof."
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